'The People' in political discourse,, what does it mean to you?

amongst such a large number of 'the people' that it is near impossible to pinpoint any one thing that is representative of them all.

It is my opinion that most of the United States Citizens have no clue how our nation should be governed. This is my attempt to offer some ideas so we might get on the right thinking to repair the damage that has already been done. Being a free nation with people from all walks of life, I encourage all citizens to offer solutions.
As complicated as this subject is, there will be many replies due to the nature of Facebook posting restrictions.

The First thing we must all realize is that people in public office are not there to make our decisions for us but to listen to our concerns and put them into effect for all citizens. We elect our public officials to represent our will as a people regardless of how they feel personally. Their job is to listen to what we want and try to make it happen. Not everyone attends all the public meetings all the time. The only way a public official can grasp the will of the people is for them to go to where the people gather and ask the questions.

Our National government is a multistage entity that begins with you and rises thru stages to a national consensus at the office of the president. There are many levels between those two points that governing entities should be making things happen. Not all concerns need to rise to the top. It is the job of each elected representative to accommodate the will of the people for the concerns that can be handled at their level of influence. Local issues handled at local levels and so on. Here is how it could be accomplished.

Every community has community leaders. I think the position of Mayor is the initial governing entity but there are leaders that are not elected yet hold sway over the opinions of our citizens. Those are Pastors and Priests, Local Barbers & Hairdressers, Bartenders, Business Owners and Neighborhood Watch Leaders.
Community, Borough, Town and City Mayors need to hear what the citizens of their appointment are concerned with on a steady basis. Not only do they need to listen to concerns and ideas from their citizens they should gather the citizens ideas and solutions to community issues that each and every one of us are faced with.
Their job, is to take that gathered information and determine if it is a local issue or needs to be alerted to the next higher governing authority.

For local issues, Their job is to assign the right agency to enact the changes needed to fulfill the wishes of their citizens. If those wishes are not fulfilled what is the point of Freedom? Local changes that require funding that exceeds the tax-base funding allowance need to be brought to the citizens attention by feedback so the citizens can determine if the increased costs are worth the additional taxes to make it happen. This requires that public official to have all their ducks in a row with all the information required for the citizens to make a proper decision. YES, They will be required to actually think and do some work.

So, How do you start this thing?

First, We need to think about the time an elected official has available. There are 5 work days per week at 8 hours per day. There are 52 weeks in the year. Elected officials are paid by salary, therefore their job is not governed by a time clock.
If you are a salary employee you know that sometimes your job requires you to work extended hours to get the job done. Why should elected officials be any different?

Three days of the week, our Mayor should be listening to the citizens and taking notes. Visiting with Junior and Seniors in school assemblies, Visiting their local colleges, industries and businesses. Visiting local churches after session to hear the will of the people.

The other two days of the week should be dedicated to enacting the will of the people and pushing their higher level concerns up the governing ladder.
Not every week needs 3 days here or 2 days there. If the workload is too much for one person, send a team to accomplish the goal and record each session.
Make those recordings available on the local government website for streaming. Open the site for comments with a sign-in so citizens can give instant feedback.

Every local government website should have a comments and issues page. Comments should be restricted to membership that requires a citizen to list their address (which is rejected if the address is not withing that governing jurisdiction) and age (age because you must be 18 to vote). If you are concerned enough to comment you should be dedicated enough to put your name on it.

Why go to High Schools?

Our children in 11th and 12th grade are about to become our citizens. While some of their decision making processes are still developing they will be the most forthwith to issues that concern them. While their votes don't yet count, it can give the Mayor a glimpse as to future issues within the community.

The next level of government is the county (parish) level (I think).

'Each' of the mayors of municipalities within that county report to the governing county (Commissioner?).
They bring forth all the issues that cannot be handled in the local offices.
The county then looks at funding available, Consensus of the people of all the each Mayor's research and determines which issues can be handled at the County level. They redirect funds, set county statues and enact county changes on those issues that relate to their county.

They gather research and feedback of all the citizens of their jurisdiction on items needing higher authority and get all their ducks in a row and take those issues to the State governing authority.

The county elected official makes routine visits to each of the local Mayor's municipalities. They spend time (3 days to a week) at the offices of those Mayors and see first hand the will of the people and the task of the Mayor's official needs. They gather up all this data and use it to enact the will of the citizens within their jurisdiction.
They MAKE NO PROMISES to the citizens. No government entity should make promises at any level.

The County authority needs to investigate what their neighboring counties citizens concerns are. Not only should they be gathering information from their citizens they need to consult with neighboring county authorities to garner the will of all the citizens. That information should be made available to the public and public feedback should be made available.
Perhaps the citizens of one community have an idea that could benefit other communities across the state? A government that represents the best for all the citizens will promote that idea across their influence.

They get all their ducks in a row and present that new idea to their citizens. They take the feedback from that and either make it so or reject it based on their citizens will. If the citizens in your county think that all county roads should be painted green then the governing officials need to make all the county roads green regardless of whether they think it is a right call or not. They were elected to public office to enact and enforce the will of those citizens...Period.

At present there are 50 states in our nation.
The State level of government should deal with state level issues. State level issues are issues that the citizens of that state are concerned with. They get that information from the counties within that state. When a Mayor polls their citizens at the local level, part of the information that they need to pass on is county and state issues.
We are a free nation. Part of our freedom is unity. Unity is needed at all levels of government. Not every issue of state requires a unity. Only issues that will be state sanctioned.
State Sanctioned means all the citizens of that state stand united in that issue by majority. That unity must be traceable all the way back to local levels by majority. Any issue that is not majority is not a state issue. An example might be Prohibition. If the majority of a state chooses to be alcohol free then the state OFFERS up the choice to make the entire state alcohol free. Each citizen then is afforded the opportunity to cast their vote to yay or nay. Those votes are tallied and the result dictates the policy.

How do we get issues needing decisions out to the citizens?
At every level of government there needs to be a channel/website/location available where concerned citizens can review all the data on all the issues at all levels of their government.
We have the technology, grasshopper.

Libraries, Local, County and State Offices, Churches (Render unto what is the King's to the king and unto what is God's to God er something like that) and Kiosks in shopping centers. Phone apps and websites. Television and Radio channels, commercials and PSA's. Provide 800 numbers, mail-in polls and website comment sections(with sign-in).
Billboards and signs could alert citizens to check for more information on hot or time sensitive issues. Each office at all levels could make their feedback phone numbers public on billboards and signs.

Feedback on issues is not the only thing important. ALL the information needed for our citizens to make an intelligent informed decision needs to be made available in plain simple language so all may understand. I hate wading thru legal talk.
Legal talk is fine for courts of law but information dissemination needs to be plain, simple and to the point. Direct affecting information needs to be clearly stated as well. To make this happen it will cost this much and this is what we have available to dedicate to it.
To make it happen it will require this much money from you over this amount of time. You will pay this amount by this method. Of the cost involved, your fellow citizens across the city, county, state or country will contribute this amount. This will be completed by this date and your obligation will be fulfilled by this date.

The FEDERAL level of government is a consensus of each and every citizen in our nation.
Issues of the federal government are issues that can only be handled at the national level.
OUR POTUS represents the will of all the people in our nation. That job is not to make our decisions for us. It is to listen to the will of all of us and act accordingly.
Your POTUS is not there to enact what they see fit for us. They are there to enact what we see fit for us.
It doesn't matter if they agree or disagree with what we want. It is not for the benefit of corporations or interest groups.

Consider this:
If an interest group is national level influence it indicates that the lower governing officials are not doing their jobs.

The POTUS should be visiting local communities without fanfare.
A visit from the POTUS should not be a ceremonial event. POTUS needs to randomly visit as many communities as possible in their elected time frame and gather feedback on how effective national concerns are being met.
Its Wednesday, I saw POTUS at Walmart when I went shopping. He/She was concerned as to if my needs on the recent change were fair and just. I'm gunna be on TV because he answered my concerns and told me where I can find more information about them.

We elect our POTUS to represent our nation to the world.
We don't really like war but we feel very strongly that each person should be treated with respect and dignity. We do understand that other cultures have different ideas about things but we are willing to teach our version of enlightenment to anyone interested in learning.
We refuse to tolerate hatred and oppression.
We are a free nation with citizens that choose our way of life. Here is the person that reflects our truest beliefs and customs.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The individual cannot be trusted with all secrets concerning national security.
No public venues can be trusted with national secrets.
There are things that the POTUS and related must have available and know so that they can keep all citizens of our country safe.

Our POTUS must be trusted to make decisions based on what our citizens want for any occasion relating to the safety of our citizens.

How can POTUS know what the citizens want for things that are secret?

We have the technology and the intelligence to create a polling system so POTUS can gauge the will of the people on any scenario that may come up.

The polls can be worded n such a way to garner the consensus of the citizens in any scenario. Those polls can be kept current to show changes in public opinion.

We have a cyber attack imminent on our electrical grid. Polls show that citizens want any measures initiated to prevent the attack up to and including loss of web services for a limited time. That tells POTUS that convenience of the internet takes backseat to preservation of our utility grid.

There is a threat at a location that is protected by world entities. The threat is against our nation and if successful could change our established way of life or endanger our citizens in their homes.
This requires lethal action by our forces. Should we take such action?

Feedback on that scenario tells the POTUS that the citizens of this nation stand behind the required actions needed to prevent this occurrence.
If enough scenarios are presented, Our POTUS will know where the nation stands on any security issue that may occur. POTUS can then take the needed action to guarantee the safety of our nation.
After such action is taken, POTUS discloses the action to our citizens via the feedback network previously established.

FINANCIAL BUDGETING

Our tax money is what establishes our financial limitations.

Just like you, No government entity should spend more than the amount available.
For government purposes, there should not be such a thing as credit. If the money is not there right now, it does not get spent...PERIOD.

Federal tax money is collected from every working citizen in our nation.
It goes into an account that is a defined amount. That money is represented as $1. Of That Dollar, it should be divided into 51 parts. One part goes back to each of the 50 states and ONE part goes to the Federal government. This means that $0.196078431373 of every ten dollars is what each state and the federal government receive.
BUT you say, How will we pay for all these federal programs that we have out there - we really need some of them!
Most of the federal government programs currently in effect do not benefit most of the citizens of our nation.
They are slanted to specific industries or locations that you and I will never experience.
If each state receives its fair share of tax, any federal entity that is state bound can be paid for by that states share of the pot. Those entities that are national and are available to every citizen can be paid for by every state back to the federal government via a bill. Call it the overhead of national unity.
Of that $0.196078431373 that the federal government gets. It pays the cost of all salaries of all federal employees, overhead of all federal mandates and all expenses. If there is not enough money to cover those bloated salaries then changes must be made because American citizens are not going to spend money we don't have to make certain citizens comfortable while most of us fight to make ends meet.

If a state requires more money than available federal, state and local taxes provides they can petition the remaining 49 states for a donation. The petition is agreed upon by that state and then the petition is offered to the remaining 49 states for approval. Each of the 49 states then asks its citizens if it can donate such funds to such and such state.
If the citizens agree and amount is agreed upon and the funds are then GIVEN to the state in need. The total amount needed is presented and the remaining 49 states then make it up as a donation. If the total is not achieved the needing state either makes up the difference or ends the financial obligation.
The citizens are made aware of that fact.

POTUS is NOT meant to enact his or her will upon our citizens. POTUS is there to represent the will of our citizens as a nation.
Your Mayor is not there to run your city as he or she sees fit. Your mayor is there to run your city as you see fit.

The preamble to the constitution uses these words

only twice have the courts commented on how to interpret those words

In United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez8 in 1990, the Court said that “the people” refers to those “persons who are part of a national community,”9 or who have “substantial connections” to the United States.10 The touchstone was not citizenship, but the extent of one’s connection to this country. This definition of “the people” applied consistently throughout the Bill of Rights, the Court said

In District of Columbia v. Heller12 in 2008, the Court approvingly quoted Verdugo-Urquidez’s definition, and similarly suggested that the term “the people” has a consistent meaning throughout the Constitution.13 But Heller also said that “the people” “refers to all members of the political community. Heller thus contains a confusing three-part analysis: (1) it approved of Verdugo-Urquidez’s interpretation; (2) it substituted “members of the political community” for “persons who are part of a national community”; and (3) it suggested that “the people” means the same thing throughout the Constitution.


http://cdn.harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol126_the_people_in_the_constitution.pdf




I know I reiterate it often but there are 300 odd million people in the United states. There is never conformity of values and goals and priorities amongst all of them. So when you use or hear the term 'The People' in political discourse,, what does it mean to you?


To me, it means literally the people. The millions who are US citizens. IT is a powerless term, to me, because there is so much diversity of values, goals, interests, priorities,, you name it amongst such a large number of 'the people' that it is near impossible to pinpoint any one thing that is representative of them all.

Black's Law Dictionary, Revised 4th Edition, 1968, PEOPLE. A state; as the people of the state of New York. A nation in its collective and political capacity. Nesbitt v. Lushington, 4 Term R. 783; U. S. v. Quincy, 6 Pet. 467, 8 L.Ed. 458; U. S. v. Trumbull, D.C.Cal., 48 F. 99. The aggregate or mass of the individuals who constitute the state. Solon v. State, 54 Tex.Cr.R. 261, 114 S.W. 349; Loi Hoa v. Nagle, C.C.A.Cal., 13 F.2d 80, 81. In a more restricted sense, and as generally used in constitutional law, the entire body of those citizens of a state or nation who are invested with political power for political purposes, that is, the qualified voters or electors. Koehler v. Hill, 60 Iowa 543, 15 N.W. 609; Boyd v.
Nebraska, 12 S.Ct. 375, 143 U.S. 135, 36 L.Ed. 103; In re Incurring of State Debts, 19 R.I. 610, 37 A. 14; In re Opinion of the Justices, 226 Mass. 607, 115 N.E. 921, 922; State v. City of Albuquerque, 31 N.M. 576, 249 P. 242, 247.

I've given this a bit of thought during the POTUS campaigns.
Its incomplete because frankly I lost interest in it. But here, might give you a few things to think about or spur a discussion or two?

























That's all I got. Its all in one reply so most of you can skip right by it.
There are lots of things I didn't go into because I lost interest at the time. There are probably lots of problems with it too. It is meant to inspire thought not dictate. I believe that great things happen when considerations are made on anything that is revealed. It might not be a great idea but it might spur someone else's great idea.